Russell Simmons Details Hip-Hop Musical The Scenario

Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons has detailed the hip-hop musical he’s producing with Universal Music Group. The Scenario, first reported in 2015, will premiere in New York during the 2017-2018 season before a 30-city tour of “traditional and nontraditional venues,” according to UMG (via the New York Times). With a concert-type setup and audience participation, the production will trace rap’s popular ascent over the past few decades, illustrated by tracks from the Universal catalog, which includes Def Jam. Music by Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Kurtis Blow, and the Sugarhill Gang is being strongly considered, Simmons told the Times. Others involved in the production include Universal’s Scott Landis, Def Pictures’ Jake Stein, and Rock of Ages producers Scott Prisand and Jamie Bendell.

“I want everyone to see it,” Simmons told the Times. “I want kids in the ’hood in Detroit to see it. I want sophisticated theatergoers in New York to see it. And they’re going love it whether they’re 50 or 14.”

Listen to the Tribe Called Quest song from which the musical takes its name:

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